Riley Green is drunk, but he’s definitely not ready to leave in his hilarious new music video for current single “Think as You Drunk.”
In the Wes Edwards-directed clip filmed partially at Green’s Duck Blind bar in Nashville, a progressively drunker Green wreaks havoc in the venue, confusing his beloved corgi Carl for the bartender and displaying some pretty awkward dance moves as his fellow barmates just do their best to stay out of his way.
The footage is interspersed with Green performing in the club for a fun combo performance/conceptual clip. Hopping on a riding mower (perhaps in an homage to George Jones’ lawn-mower-riding appearance in Vince Gill’s similarly amusing “One More Last Chance” video), a very convincingly drunk Green then goes to visit a girlfriend, who is none too pleased by his inebriated state and tosses him out. It’s only a matter of time before a cop pulls the overserved Green and his mower over and arrests him before, perhaps unwisely, releasing him back to the bar, as he hops back up onstage to finish the song.
In his recent Billboard cover story, Green talked about writing the song and how Toby Keith’s classic “As Good as I Once Was” ended up as the coda.
After penning “Think as You Drunk” with Erik Dylan, Wyatt McCubbin and Jessi Alexander in 20 minutes, Green told Billboard he and his collaborators instantly felt a connection to Keith’s rowdy, fun-loving songs. “The best compliment I can give a song is ‘Man, this feels like a Toby Keith song,’” said Green, who regularly covers Keith in his live show. “Especially as a songwriter, I don’t know if there was a bigger influence on me.”
Given the song’s resemblance to Keith’s barroom anthems and out of respect, Riley’s team played it for the late singer’s manager and family. “They completely thought it was a tip of the cap to Toby, so they wanted to have his vocal on it,” Green says. “Think” now ends sampling Keith singing his 2005 smash, which Green’s father used to joke was written about him. “So, it’s really a full-circle moment for me to have Toby’s vocal on that song.”
In the video, the bar denizens sing the Keith lyrics as the camera pans to a photo of Keith lifting, of course, a red Solo cup.
“Think As You Drunk” appears on Green’s upcoming album That’s Just Me, out Sept. 18.
